US Rep. Beto O'Rourke votes against Iron Dome funding

U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso, was one of eight members of the U.S. House of Representatives who voted against additional funding for Israel's missile defense system Friday.

"I could not in good conscience vote for borrowing $225 million more to send to Israel, without debate and without discussion, in the midst of a war that has cost more than a thousand civilian lives already, too many of them children," O'Rourke said in a statement.

The measure passed the House with a 395-8 vote after the Senate approved the legislation earlier in the day.

O'Rourke said Friday night's vote was a rushed vote without a minute of debate and believed that a conversation was necessary before action could be taken.

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Kristopher Rivera

Israel has used the Iron Dome missile defense system to intercept incoming rockets fired from Hamas during the current three-week conflict.

During the conflict, more than 1,600 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and more than 60 Israelis, mostly soldiers, have been killed in the war, The Associated Press reported.

O'Rourke added that he is not opposed to the Iron Dome, and has voted for its funding in the past. On June 14, he voted for the National Defense Authorization Act that allowed an additional $15 million to improve Iron Dome capabilities, he said.

On June 20, he voted for the Defense Appropriations bill that included $670 million for cooperative missile defense programs with Israel, $351 million designated for the Iron Dome. The appropriation was $175 million more than President Barack Obama had initially requested, O'Rourke said.

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His vote Friday angered many in El Paso's Jewish community, including those who have supported him since he first ran for Congress.

"When he previously voted to support Iron Dome, whose rockets did he think it was going to be used to knock out of the sky before innocent Israeli civilian lives were taken?" said Stuart Schwartz, an El Paso lawyer who has donated $1,000 to O'Rourke's congressional campaigns. "And now, when possibility becomes a reality, after over 2,600 rockets have been fired at Israel, he chooses to side with the rocket launchers and terror tunnel builders. I don't follow his logic. Iron Dome is defensive only; it is not an offensive weapon system."

Issa Khlyel, a board member for the Islamic Center of El Paso, approved of O'Rourke's vote and questioned the U.S. role in the conflict between Israel and Hamas following Friday's action.

"What are they (U.S.) trying to do? Are they trying to protect human beings in general? What are they doing to protect the civilians in Gaza?" Khlyel asked.

"I'm for anyone who supports peace, and by sending money, arms and everything, this is not promoting peace, this is promoting war," Khlyel said.

Khlyel called the mass casualties of Palestinians a massacre and said he does not want to see anyone killed on either side.

"Those people (Palestinians) were displaced from their villages in 1948 and I am one of them myself," Khlyel said. "I've been displaced, kicked out by the Israelis. They (Palestinians) have no place to go."

Rabbi Stephen Leon of Congregation B'Nai Zion, in West El Paso, said Israel is spending money in an effort to defend citizens of Israel, and on the other hand Hamas is spending money to attack the enemy rather than protect its citizens.

"Obviously, we are saddened by the fact that innocent civilians are being killed," Leon said. "It appears the leadership in Hamas puts their own people in danger and puts them in places where they store these rockets that they're shooting at Israel."

Leon said he believes the problem is in the leadership of Hamas.

"(Hamas) tries to present itself as one that is interested in helping the civilian population, the Palestinian population, but its hatred for Israel and desire to destroy Israel is stronger," Leon said.

O'Rourke's vote against the funding was a disappointment to the El Paso Jewish community, Leon said.

"Why would you be against a defense mechanism?" he asked.

"I really don't understand how he makes his decision. It's a great, great disappointment to the Jewish community here," Leon said. "We had meetings with him prior to talk to him about the importance of Israel and the way he voted makes very little sense."

Other members of the House who voted against the bill were U.S. Reps. Keith Ellison, D-Minn.; Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.; Jim Moran, D-Va.; Justin Amash, R-Mich.; Walter Jones, R-N.C.; Thomas Massie, R-Ky.; and Mark Sanford, R-S.C.